Merion confident it can solve the puzzle of hosting 2013 U.S. Open

Two weeks before contending at the U.S. Openat The Olympic Club, Graeme McDowell visited the 2013 site. Merion Golf Club made a fair impression, one year before its reintroduction to the golf world.

"You're ready to hold the tournament right now," McDowell told club officials.

Not quite, though the logistical puzzle of squeezing one of the world's biggest golf tournaments onto the small, historic Delaware County club is coming together. The U.S. Golf Association next June will bring what it calls a "Boutique Open" to Merion Golf Club, where it will trade huge crowds and a 36,000-square-foot merchandise tent for off-site hospitality and plenty of spectator patience.

Still, USGA officials called the prospect of returning to Merion, where Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan made history, ultimately worth reducing the championship's overall size. And the Philadelphia area has responded, buying nearly all of the 25,000 daily tickets one year in advance.

"One thing has always been our guiding principle," said Reg Jones, the USGA's managing director of the U.S. Open. "We want to host our championships at the best golf courses so we can crown a national champion. Everyone feels like Merion certainly is one of those places."

Merion hosted the last of its four U.S. Opens in 1981, when it was the shortest Open venue (at 6,528 yards) since World War II. Actually, it tied for that record with the 1971 U.S. Open, also held at Merion.

Since then, the U.S. Open has grown into a mammoth enterprise, hosting as many as 50,000 spectators per day, dozens of corporate hospitality tents and all the attendant infrastructure. Until the last decade, the USGA figured that Merion, with two small courses a mile apart, could not accommodate the championship.

But Merion lengthened its East Course, where the championship will be conducted, by more than 400 yards, and off-site properties such as neighboring Haverford College agreed to host the hospitality tents. Even residents who live on Golf House Road adjacent to the course are giving up their lawns to the championship.

"It's clearly going to be a challenge, but we've been working with the USGA for more than two years, and they've had people in residence at Merion, and their ability to solve logistical problems is very, very good," said Rick Ill, Merion's general chairman of the U.S. Open. "I'm sure we're going to get it done."

To address capacity problems, the USGA has capped attendance at 25,000 spectators daily. It also will build grandstands to accommodate 17,000 of those fans across the property, hoping people fill those seats to alleviate course crowding.

In addition, the East Course's focus will be almost exclusively on golf. Merchandise, concessions and restrooms will be located on the course's perimeter. Players' locker rooms and practice facilities will be located on the West Course, with shuttles running the mile in between.

"Normally, we try to put facilities in locations where we expect spectators to be," Jones said. "At Merion, it's going to be the opposite. We're putting spectator services on the edges, where we can."

Corporate hospitality, which is being operated by the Bethlehem-based MSG Promotions, will be located at Haverford College and on Golf House Road, which runs along the East Course's back nine. Bridges will be constructed from Haverford to the championship site, and corporate tents will take over some grounds of the posh neighborhood.

"For us to go back to Merion, we had to have a lot of support from the people on Golf House Road to make this work," said Hank Thompson, championship director of the 2013 U.S. Open. "There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but we're getting them to fit together."

On the course, the USGA and Merion made significant changes to assure that it can withstand today's game. Merion has a storied championship history, but the difference between Ben Hogan's 1950 victory (at 7-over par) and David Graham's 1981 win (at 7-under) was noticeable.

At 6,900 yards for a par-70 course, Merion will play short by today's standards. The Olympic Club, site of last week's U.S. Open, measured 7,170 yards as a par-70. Congressional was 7,574 yards as a par-71 in 2011.

Though the East Course will feature several short par 4s, it also will have four that measure 490 yards or longer. One of the two par 5s will stretch longer than 600 yards, and both par 5s will be among the first four holes. At the 2005 U.S. Amateur, only five players broke par at Merion during stroke-play qualifying.

"We've narrowed some of the fairways, moved some bunkers and lengthened the course," Ill said. "We'll be tweaking the course between now and next year, but it's essentially ready."

Jack Nicklaus, who visited the course recently, said Merion has "some birdie holes on it" that will be mitigated by the more-difficult par 4s. He added that Merion won't be a pushover.

"I don't think you're going to find Merion being a piece of cake," Nicklaus said last week. "I think Merion will be a pretty good test."

Sellout approaching for Merion

Weekend general-admission tickets are sold out for next year's U.S. Open at Merion, and the USGA expects remaining daily tickets to sell out as well. The USGA has capped attendance at 25,000 per day.

Tickets are available for all three practice rounds and Thursday's opening round of the tournament, scheduled for June 10-16. Practice-round tickets are $50 per day or $100 for a three-day package. Tickets for Thursday's first round are $110. All tickets include parking and shuttles to the course.

Tickets for the 1895 and Trophy clubs, which include tournament admission and access to an off-site hospitality tent, are available for all days of the championship. Prices range from $75 for practice rounds to $385 for weekend championship rounds and club access.

Kids 12-and-under will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult ticket-holder.